My father drives a tractor trailer for a living and has taught me more than I could have ever learned from just taking my driver’s ed course. He has always taught me to always expect the unexpected when driving. There are so many drivers out there whom are distracted and not paying attention to what they are doing while driving. I can not count how many times I’ve come to a 4-way cross section and it only has a 2 way stop and drivers have drove right through the intersection, without stopping and almost hitting me. I always make sure to slow down before any intersection, you have to expect the unexpected. My father was involved in an accident last year while driving his truck. The dump truck was ahead of him on the right side, not even in an actual lane. He was driving on the shoulder. The back tires of the dump trailer hit the grass and the driver reacted to pull to the left hard. While that was happening, my father started to move all the way to the left to try to avoid him. As the driver pulled left, the trailer of the dump truck snapped off the fifth wheel plate and rolled over. This caused the driver to drive right into the side of my father’s tractor. We can not say for sure why this driver was driving on the shoulder and then hitting the soft grass off the shoulder, but distraction is our assumption. Carelessness is about 90% of why accidents happen. Carelessness can mean many things when driving. Some would include talking on a hand-held phone, texting while driving, day dreaming, road rage, speeding and being in a rush. My father has explained to me that some drivers just don’t care about the rules of the road and or they just forget over time. Some have just forgotten and or do not care about common curtesy. My father has told me about a driving course he had to take for a company he worked for, it’s called the Smith System. The Smith System is built around five driving habits:
Aim high in steering — stay alert to traffic and dangers
Get the big picture – be aware of your surroundings
Keep your eyes moving – constant eye movement helps keep you alert
Leave yourself an out – do not allow other drivers to box you in
Make sure they see you – remove assumptions about other drivers
He used these same five key driving practices when teaching me to drive. I feel these five key driving practices should be taught to every driver. He also warned me about tractor trailers, to not stay close to them. Their blind spots are worse than the average car. Leave plenty of space between you and them when in front of them and behind them. One crucial point he made was when on either side of them, if you can’t see the driver’s face in his side mirror, he can’t see you.
Our federal, state and local enforcement’s have seemed to lessen the amount of enforcement that they should apply when it comes to the rules of the road for your average every day drivers. Enforcement is a crucial role, because it would help reduce the number of accidents happening on the roadways. Driver education is very important for not only new driver’s learning how to drive but also for drivers that have been driving for numerous years. I feel that there needs to be more education brought to the new students and existing drivers. The more you learn would cause less distractions and accidents on the roadways. When renewing your license, you are either required to take an eye exam or possibly a written test, but this is not all the time. There should be a requirement that more education should be taught before you are able to renew your license. Possibly each state could have an online course that you have to take to re-educate yourself and introduce new ways of different scenarios that can happen on the road. Teach drivers about how important driver safety is. I’m lucky to have a professional driver whom has taught me about driver education and keeps teaching me. Just because you passed your state requirements doesn’t mean you are a good driver and then that’s it. You as a driver are having to remember that each day is a new learning experience out on the road and you have to keep learning. I don’t think many people think of that.